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I N T R O D U C T I O N 23
years before. It was thought to be a most difficult country
to reach— a terra incognita— rude and dangerous, having no
allurements for the average Canadian, whose notions about
it, i f he had any, were limited, as usual, to the awe- inspiring
legend of " barbarous Indians and perpetual frost."
There is a lust, however, the unquenchable lust for gold,
which seems to arouse the dullest from their apathy. This
is the primum mobile; from earliest days the sensational
mover of c i v i l i z e d man, and not unlikely to remain so u n t il
our old planet capsizes again, and the poles become the
equator w i t h troglodites for inhabitants. No barriers seem
insurmountable to this rampant s p i r i t ; and, urged by it, the
gold- seekers, chiefly aliens from the United States, plunged
into the wilderness of Athabasca without hesitation, and
without as much as " b y your leave " to the native. Some
of these marauders, as was to be expected, exhibited on the
way a congenital contempt for the Indian's rights. A t various
places his horses were killed, his dogs shot, his bear- traps
broken up. A n outcry arose i n consequence, which inevitably
would have led to reprisals and bloodshed had not the Government
stepped i n and forestalled further trouble by a
prompt recognition of the native's title. Hitherto he had
been content with his lot i n these remote wildernesses, and
well might he be! One of the vast river systems of the Continent,
perhaps the greatest of them a l l , considering the area
drained, teeming with fish, and alive w i t h fur and antler,
was his home— a region which furnished h im i n abundance
w i t h the means of l i f e , not to speak of such surplus of luxuries
as was brought to his doors by his old and paternal
friend, " J o h n Company." H i s wants were simple, his l i fe
healthy, though f u l l of t o i l , his appetite great— an appetite
which throve upon what it fed, and gave rise to fabulous
feats of eating, recalling the exploits of the beloved and big-bellied
B e n of nursery lore.
But the spirit of change was brooding even here. The
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| Title | Page 28 |
| OCR | I N T R O D U C T I O N 23 years before. It was thought to be a most difficult country to reach— a terra incognita— rude and dangerous, having no allurements for the average Canadian, whose notions about it, i f he had any, were limited, as usual, to the awe- inspiring legend of " barbarous Indians and perpetual frost." There is a lust, however, the unquenchable lust for gold, which seems to arouse the dullest from their apathy. This is the primum mobile; from earliest days the sensational mover of c i v i l i z e d man, and not unlikely to remain so u n t il our old planet capsizes again, and the poles become the equator w i t h troglodites for inhabitants. No barriers seem insurmountable to this rampant s p i r i t ; and, urged by it, the gold- seekers, chiefly aliens from the United States, plunged into the wilderness of Athabasca without hesitation, and without as much as " b y your leave " to the native. Some of these marauders, as was to be expected, exhibited on the way a congenital contempt for the Indian's rights. A t various places his horses were killed, his dogs shot, his bear- traps broken up. A n outcry arose i n consequence, which inevitably would have led to reprisals and bloodshed had not the Government stepped i n and forestalled further trouble by a prompt recognition of the native's title. Hitherto he had been content with his lot i n these remote wildernesses, and well might he be! One of the vast river systems of the Continent, perhaps the greatest of them a l l , considering the area drained, teeming with fish, and alive w i t h fur and antler, was his home— a region which furnished h im i n abundance w i t h the means of l i f e , not to speak of such surplus of luxuries as was brought to his doors by his old and paternal friend, " J o h n Company." H i s wants were simple, his l i fe healthy, though f u l l of t o i l , his appetite great— an appetite which throve upon what it fed, and gave rise to fabulous feats of eating, recalling the exploits of the beloved and big-bellied B e n of nursery lore. But the spirit of change was brooding even here. The |
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